Versatile table construction



June 28, 1966 J. wlsEMAN VERSATILE TABLE CONSTRUCTION Filed March 26, 1964 riff'.

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INVENTOR.

JOSEPH WISEMAN 7% KW @f/ HIS ATTORNEY United States Patent Office 3,257,975 VERSATILE TABLE CONSTRUCTION Joseph Wiseman, 237 S. 4th East Sts.,

Salt Lake City, 'Utah Filed Mar. 26, 1964, Ser. No. 354,892 2 Claims. (Cl. 10S- 145) The present invention relates to tables, and more particularly to a new and improved, versatile table construction wherein both table height and translational disposition relative to the leg supports thereof may be selected so that thel table is able to perform a variety of functions.

Accordingly, a principal object of the present invention is to provide a unique type of versatile table design wherein the height thereof may be regulated and locked in place in a desired manner.

A further object of the invention is toprovide a new and improved table construction wherein counter-balancing spring means are uniquely provided in a conguration such as to lessen the force necessary to raise the table top to various heights.

A further object of the invention is to provide a return spring construction for table tops in an adjustable table construction wherein the pivoting structure for raising and lowering7 the table top self incorporates means for storing and properly positioning the balancing springs used.

A further object of the invention is to provide in a height adjustable table design certain locking means for enabling the releasable locking of the table top in any one of several positions relative to centering over the supporting legs; thus, centering of the table for any height adjustment thereof is facilitated as is also the off-centering when the table is used as a typing table, for example.

A further object of the invention is to provide an adjustable table design wherein a drop leaf may be utilized in this particular table construction.

A further object of the invention is to provide a table which may be adjusted to functionally serve either as a Vcoffee table, a dining room table, a typing table, an end table, and so forth.

The fetaures of the present invention which are believed to be novel are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. 'Ihe .present invention, both as to its organization and manner of operation, together with further objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view showing a versatile table according to the present invention; the dotted lines indicate optional pull-out of auxiliary, pivoted'table leaves and also various attainable heights and positions of the upper structure of the table for which the same can be adjusted.

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary front elevation of the table in FIGURE 1, with the upper structure shown in elevated condition and longitudinally sectioned; the dotted line .portion of the figure illustrating the end pull-out extension of the table when a drop leaf addition to the table thereat is required.

FIGURE 3 is a vertical section taken along the line 3-3 in FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 4 is a bottom plan of the lower structure of the table, it is fragmentary in nature, and is taken along the lines 4 4 in FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 5 is a bottom plan of the table structure as taken along the line 5-5 in FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 6 is a bottom plan of the auxiliary drop leaf which may be used in the structure as illustrated in dotted lines in FIGURE 2.

In FIGURE 1 table 10 includes upper structure 11,

lower structure 12, and medial structure 13. Upper structure 11 comprises a top 14, two ends 15, and two sides 16,

respectively. The sides 16 and ends 15 are glued or otherwise xedly lsecured to top 14 in a conventional manner. Pivotable 4pull-out leaves 17 and 18 may be supplied in slots 19 and 20 and ends 15 and sides 16 as desired and illustrated in FIGURE 1. In open condition the pull-out leaves 17 and 18 are illustrated as 17 and 18 in the.

dotted configuration shown in FIGURE 1. To facilitate the same, the individual pull-out leaves may be pivoted by pivot means P, as illustrated by way of example in FIGURE 2. The pivot means may take the conventional form of a screw, bolt, or headed pivot pin, for example.

If desired, the upper structure 11 may include a pullout structure S such that one of the ends 15, see FIGURE 2, can be pulled out laterally, as indicated in the dotted line configuration 15', in FIGURE 2, so as to accommodate the insertion of an end leaf 23. End leaf 23 is illustrated in FIGURE 6 and is shown to include top panel 24 provided with retainer toe elements 25 and attachments 26 for securing elements 25 to the top panel 24. Blocks 26' are glued or otherwise secured to the bottom surface 27 of panel 24 and mount depending guide elements 28 in fixed relation, see also FIGURE 2. The guide elements are disposed interiorly of spaced pull-out tubes 29, see FIGURE 2, the latter being xedly secured to the right end panel 15 and being journaled in guide blocks 31; guide blocks 31 are glued or otherwise rigidly secured to the under-surface 32 of top 14. Block 33 and pin 34 attached thereto may be supplied so that pin 34 can seat into recess 35 of right end 15 of the table. This is to insure releasably fixed engagement and alignment of the inserted leaf 23 with the remainder of the table construction. If desired, a screw 35 may be screwed into the underside of the leaf panel 23 in FIGURE 6, which screw 35 is engaged by pivotal lever 36 when the same is pivoted about its pin 37 to rotate such that slot 38 engages the screw 35. Of course, the screw 35 will have sufficient space between its head and the bottom surface of the leaf to permit such lever engagement.

The lower structure 12 includes legs 21, four in num ber, and also a bottom panel 40 which is rigidly affixed thereto. If desired, of course, the legs may be provided with upper threaded connections and screwed into depending bosses of panel 40. The panel 40 is supplied with guide members 41 and 42 which are parallel and are rigidly secured to the panel 40. Guide members engage slide panel 43 at the undercut edges 44 thereof, serving to constrain movement of slide panel 43 to rectilinear movement. A pull-out member 46 is fixedly secured to slide member 43 so as to enable easy operation of the structure. Thus, it is seen that the slide member 43 is shift-able back .and forth in FIGURE 2 in accordance with the direction of the arrows A and B so that the slide panel and that which is mounted thereon may be slid back and forth relative to panel 40 and legs 21.

Hinged to slide panel 43 by means of hinges 47 and 48 are the plural, parallel and parallel-operating upstanding support members 49 and 56, the latter also being hinged by hinge means 51 and 52 to blocks 53 and 54 which are mounted to the top 14. Hence, it is seen that the upper structure 11 may be lowered by the pivotal movement of upright support members 49 and 5t). ln a preferred form of the invention the upright support-members take U- shaped congurements.

As thus far described, the operation of the'structure is as follows. The leaves 17 and 18 may be pivotally withdrawn to the dotted line configuration shown `in FIG` URE 1 by the pivoting of these members about pivot pins P. The raising ,and lowering of the upper structure 11 and top ,14 is accomplished by the pivoting of upstanding support members 49 and 50 relative to their hinges 47,

Patented June 28, 1966 48, 51, and 52. Of course, once the top has been raised or lowered, then there must be in general necessitated a corresponding shifting of slide plate 43 within guide members 41 and 42. This, of course, may be easily accomplished, as follows.

Pivotally secured by pivot pin to the bottom surface 61 of panel 40 is a spring loaded lever 62, spring loaded by a spring 63 which is secured in place at 64 also to the bottom surface 61 of panel 40. Lever 62 includes plural detent notches 65, 66, 67, and 68. Further detent 69 and 70 may also be supplied as needed. It will be noted that there is a slot 71 in bottom panel 40, which slot proceeds to the leftwardly extremity of the structure as shown in FIGURE 5. A block 72 is provided for support. It will be understood that if so desired, the slot may be closed at both ends in a normal, keyhole-type construction. Push-in type handle 72 is secured to level' 62 in the manner shown in FIGURE 5. Slot 70 may be provided to engage stop pin 74 to limit the travel of lever 62. Slots 66-69 are for the purpose of engagement with pin 75, the latter depending from slide panel 43. It will be noted that an additional slot 78, delineated by reinforcing strips R, is disposed in fixed panel 40, see FIGURE 5. This is for the purpose of offering a slide path for pin 75, affixed to panel 40. Bracket 79 is provided with a suitable aperture 80 for receiving handle 72. In actuation, handle 72 is advanced downwardly with respect to FIG- URE 5 so as to release pin 75 from its detent; thereafter the slide panel 40 may be advanced leftwardly with respect to FIGURE 5 until the pin engages a new detent such as 66.

It will be noted that each of the upstanding support members 49 and S0 include central, enlarged bosses 80 and 81. These may be circular as illustrated in FIG- URE 2 and accommodate the placement of return springs S2 and 83. Return spring 83 may be anchored to boss 81 by means of chain S4, pinned by pin A in a conventional manner to the boss 81, as desired. Spring 83, see FIGURES 2 and 5, i's likewise anchored by pin S6 to the underside of panel 43. Correspondingly, spring 82 is anchored by pin S9 to boss 80 and proceeds around the yboss construction to be anchored by pin to the top surface 90 of slide panel 43. These springs are counterbalancing springs. Thus, tension is applied to the springs 82 and 83 as the table top is lowered; this tension serves to assist in the raising of the table top as desired.

The height of the table may be controlled by lever means 92 which in fact comprises plural aligned levers 93 and 94, pivoted at 95 and 96 to certain bracket structure 97 and 98 in which includes a cross bar 99. The ends 100 and 101 engage stops 102 and 103 disposed on the upper surface of slide panel 43. Additional stops 104 and 105 slide to accommodate a different height adjustment, i.e. a lower height adjustment. Other stop means may be provided as needed.

The invention operates as follows. The table is ideally suited for adjustment for any one of several discrete heights to accommodate a variety of purposes. Height adjustment is 'accommodated by the hinged medial structure 13, and in particular, the hinging at both ends of upstanding support members 49 and 50. The height determined at any particular instant is controlled by the engagement of compound lever 92 with stops 102, 103, and stops 104, 105, and when the top is simply resting upon the legs and its associated structure, i.e. panel 40, as illustrated in FIGURE 1. When the upper structure 11 is lowered, then the springs 82 and 83 wind upon their bosses so as to apply tension to the structures and up- -standing support structures 49 and 50, thereby tending to raise these when slight hand pressure is applied to lift the top above to position indicated in FIGURE 1.

Locking of the slide panel 43 in position so that the table top is centered above the legs is accomplished by the lever 62 and engagement of the appropriate ones of its respective detents 65-69 with pivot pin 75 of the slide 4panel 43. An extra leaf may be supplied as needed as seen in connection with FIGURES 2 and 6. The pivotal leaves 17 and 18 may be `pivoted outwardly toward position 17' and 18 in FIGURE l for additional versatility. Furthermore, the unit may be used as a typing table by the last notch 69 in FIGURE 5 engaging pin 75 so that the table overhangs the four-legged structure 12.

While particular embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made without departing from this invention in its broader aspects, and, therefore, the aim in the appended claims is to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of this invention.

l claim:

1. A versatile table construction including, in combination, upper structure defining a vertically adjustable table top, lower structure including plural, leg supporting means, and medial structure interconnecting said upper structure with said lower structure, said medial structure including a slide panel slideably disposed over said lower structure and also plural, parallel and parallel-operating, upstanding support members hingedly secured to said slide panel and also to said upper structure, said lower structure including guide means for slideably receiving said slide panel to constrain the motion of the latter to rectilinear back-and-forth movement, selectably engageable stop means for determining the height disposition of said upper structure with respect to said lower structure, and mutually cooperable, releasable locking means secured to said lower structure and to said slide panel for determining the horizontal positioning of said slide panel over said lower structure.

2. Structure according to claim 1 wherein said medial structure is provided with a counter-balancing tension spring means for assisting in raising said upper structure above said lower structure, and wherein said upstanding support members include respective boss means, said counter-balancing spring means being respectively wrapped around and secured at respective first extremities to said boss means and also being respectively affixed at the remaining extremities to said slide panel.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED. STATES PATENTS 862,791 8/1907 Bawden 10S-145 940,804 ll/l909 Hanson 10S-145 1,559,844 ll/1925 Brooks 108--147 2,124,754 7/1938 Simpson et al. 108-145 2,531,233 ll/l950 Pettit 10S- 145 2,545,515 3/1951 Gannett et al 10S-138 2,580,032 l2/195l Lindelof l08*93 2,604,369 7/1952 Phillips et al 10S-93 2,605,153 7/1952 Lietz 108-93 2,612,424 9/1952 Hoehalter 108-93 2,672,386 3/1954 Segal et al 108-147 2,792,944 5/1957 Drommer 108-144 X 2,922,685 l/l960 Lappin et al. 108--146 2,993,675 7/1961 Tatter 108-145 3,043,640 7/1962 Eames et al 10S-145 FRANK B. SHERRY, Primary Examiner.

G. O. FINCH, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A VERSATILE TABLE CONSTRUCTION INCLUDING, IN COMBINATION, UPPER STRUCTURE DEFINING A VERTICALLY ADJUSTABLE TABLE TOP, LOWER STRUCTURE INCLUDING PLURAL, LEG SUPPORTING MEANS, AND MEDIAL STRUCTURE INTERCONNECTING SAID UPPER STRUCTURE WITH SAID LOWER STRUCTURE, SAID MEDIAL STRUCTURE INCLUDING A SLIDE PANLE SLIDEABLY DISPOSED OVER SAID LOWER STRUCTURE AND ALSO PLURAL, PARALLEL AND PARALLEL-OPERATING, UPSTANDING SUPPORT MEMBERS HINGEDLY SECURED TO SAID SLIDE PANEL AND ALSO TO SAID UPPER STRUCTURE, SAID LOWER STRUCTURE INCLUDING GUIDE MEANS FOR SLIDEABLY RECEIVING SAID SLIDE PANEL TO CONSTRAIN THE MOTION OF THE LATTER TO RECTILINEAR BACK-AND-FORTH MOVEMENT, SELECTABLY ENGAGEABLE STOP MEANS FOR DETERMINING THE HEIGHT DISPOSITION OF SAID UPPER STRUCTURE WITH RESPECT TO SAID LOWER STRUCTURE, AND MUTUALLY COOPERABLE, RELEASABLE LOCKING MEANS SECURED TO SAID LOWER STRUCTURE AND TO SAID SLIDE PANEL FOR DETERMINING THE HORIZONTAL POSITIONING OF SAID SLIDE PANEL OVER SAID LOWER STRUCTURE. 